John A. comment.... What say you?

[UConnFan23]

I wouldn't mind spending even more money if I could get a good seat but I'm not going to sit so far from the court that I can't see the numbers on the jerseys. Maybe John should instead ask why so many "corporate sponsor" seats go unused?

Absolutely agree!!!! Sitting in the nosebleed section is terrible. I check all the games for a seat (as a single) I would want and none are available. Yet, when I watch on TV, I see all these seats that I would be willing to pay a significant amount for going unused. I thought John commented last year that someone was going to fix that situation by, for example, ticket owners calling in when tickets would go unused so that they could be sold off with a portion going back to the corporation to give them some incentive. Perhaps if John did not have such a cushy seat he would be proactive about fixing this. The real problem in terms of giving the players a crowd to support them would seem to be that large ring of unused seats all around the court. Jeez, I have to (and do) travel so I can see a game and be able to recognize the players without using binoculars...while the games in easy driving distance are played with empty seats I would be very willing to pay a good price for and take on short notice. This problem is not rocket science to fix, but yet it goes on and on....and I give up on even trying to see a local game

 

[alexrgct]

I have season tickets in the lower bowl, and I'm not a corporate sponsor or big-time donor at all.

I've also sat pretty much everywhere in the XL Center and Gampel. There basically aren't bad seats in Gampel from a sightline perspective (yes, the bleacher can be uncomfortable). There are bad seats at XL, but as long as you're not up high AND at a bad angle, it's worth going to, IMO.

And UConn absolutely did implement a ticket exchange program for season ticket holders to sell tickets they weren't going to use. See below for more info:

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/conn/genrel/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/Buy.pdf

 

[Alydar]

This is the second home game that is going up against the Giants football game. On top of that it's November. Most UConn fans won't get involved till the Stanford game.

As for cost, I'd guess that if you add in the cost of the "points" needed to get a lower level seat between the end lines it's more like $100. a ticket. Maybe someone with the deep pockets to afford those seats can comment on what the "contribution level needs to be. When the UConn AD decided to use the "point" system to assign seats, shoving longtime supporters into the 200 sections they put revenue ahead of loyalty. They shouldn't now wonder why fans have gotten used to sitting home in front of a HD TV instead of climbing into the rafters of an arena that needed to be replaced 10 years ago.

 

[EricSD]

If there aren't 15,000 fans in the seats then fans shouldn't be able to bitch about conference affiliation? What a dumb statement.

First of all, UCONN was 4th last year in attendance behind Tennessee, L'ville, and Iowa state. I don't know what are YTD attendance figures are but I would guess we are again in the top 3-4. This means that all the other schools who are either in great conferences, or trying to get into better conferences, have attendance behind UCONN's.

Second, as Pap pointed out, this is the same guy who whined about UCONN fans' energy while at the aTm/UCONN game. I read the comments before I watched the game on TV. I was astonished to hear that with a few minor exceptions, the crowd was actually as silent as UCONN fans when we play Providence and whip them by 60.

Third, and no offense meant to WCBB, but in the grand scheme of the conference affiliation, I'd say many factors weigh much higher in the grand scheme including, but not limited to, FOOTBALL, academics, TV market, Men's hoops, etc.

So I really have no use for a horde member who seems like he's making it a habit of blasting UCONN fans. If you don't think your "constituents" are good enough for ya, John, then go find another job.

 

[Alydar]

I have season tickets in the lower bowl, and I'm not a corporate sponsor or big-time donor at all.

I've also sat pretty much everywhere in the XL Center and Gampel. There basically aren't bad seats in Gampel from a sightline perspective (yes, the bleacher can be uncomfortable). There are bad seats at XL, but as long as you're not up high AND at a bad angle, it's worth going to, IMO.

And UConn absolutely did implement a ticket exchange program for season ticket holders to sell tickets they weren't going to use. See below for more info:

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/conn/genrel/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/Buy.pdf

Thanks. This is the first time I have heard of this. I tried to follow the links but can't find a way to register as a non-season ticket holder. They say to click the logo of the sport I want but the only sport listed is football. I'll try again. Thanks for the info.

 

[UConnChapette]

If there aren't 15,000 fans in the seats then fans shouldn't be able to bitch about conference affiliation? What a dumb statement.

First of all, UCONN was 4th last year in attendance behind Tennessee, L'ville, and Iowa state. I don't know what are YTD attendance figures are but I would guess we are again in the top 3-4. This means that all the other schools who are either in great conferences, or trying to get into better conferences, have attendance behind UCONN's.

Which really is all the more remarkable when you consider that EVERY UConn game is televised or streamed online.

If you want to increase attendance, stop broadcasting every game. That is a double edged sword. While it allows those who do not live in CT or cannot make the games able to watch the team, it also makes it easier for people to decide they don't want to pay the parking and concession prices or deal with the traffic to sit at home and watch the game. I commented to a friend today that the attendance started to decline as soon as CPTV started broadcasting every game. A blessing and a curse.

 

[UConnFan23]

Thanks. This is the first time I have heard of this. I tried to follow the links but can't find a way to register as a non-season ticket holder. They say to click the logo of the sport I want but the only sport listed is football. I'll try again. Thanks for the info.

I expressed my frustration above about getting good seats, and I was pleased that Alexrgct pointed out that a system existed to buy tickets from season holders. However, like Alydar I was not able to find the logo for Women's BB - - is the system only in place for football?

 

[Kibitzer]

As a matter of full disclosure, I have had some regrettable and unfortunate disagreements with John A. in the past. I prefer that they remain private.

Still, although there might be some connection between attendance at an early-season Monday night wcbb game (vs. Giants on TV and UConn vs. Maryland on TV, among other justifications for staying home, most of which were enumerated in this thread) and the unrelated matter of conference affiliation but I just don't see it.

I would love to see this team in this game but I am otherwise committed on Monday. I have made arrangements for others to use my tickets. I may elaborate on this elsewhere.

 

[Wonkster]

* If there aren’t 15,000 human beings in the XL Center for Monday’s game ....

I keep telling people that the "fannies in the seats" argument is passé. Revenue in the future will be more and more slanted toward TV sources. You can reduce ticket prices to zero, and they still won't reach capacity seating. There's prolly only 7 or 8 thousand good seats, and the rest rate a poor second place to a large screen television.

How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm after They've Seen HDTV?

The future is 7 or 8,000 live fans, and the rest of the seats will be filled with blue-painted, cheering robots. I'll bet they won't be able to convince the robots to eat the food from the concession stands.

 

[pap49cba]

Wonder what John A.'s reaction was to this....

"The NFL has relaxed local television blackout rules, a league spokesman confirmed to NFL.com and NFL Network on Saturday.

Home teams now will have the option of selling 85 percent of game tickets to avoid a blackout in their local TV market. Previously, teams had to sell out games or receive an exception from the league for the game to be shown on local TV.

The change comes as league-wide attendance has declined over the past five years, the newspaper said."

LINK

 

[cohenzone]

It is way too easy to be simplistic and bitch about how people should be supporting this, or that, or got spoiled or whatever. People are not obligated to be interested in anything. UConn has three sports that cost a bit for the fan to support. In my case, I have football seasons tickets and pay a pretty penny for very good seats. I share seasons tickets for men's hoops games in Hartford. It just gets to the point where, as much I love the women's team, the most I feel I can do is go to an occasional game. And it is clear from this board, that some men's team fans have little interest in the women's game and vice versa. I also have many other things going on in my life that take me away from CT often enough that it makes no sense for me to buy season's tickets I'd have trouble using during the winter months. That is, I understand, personal to my circumstances, the point being, who knows what may lead even interested fans not to buy a live ticket. I live 45 minutes from Hartford and well over an hour from Storrs - not the most centrally located spot for lots of otherwise interested people.

There is no doubt that in the case of the women, some of the old guard fans have either become too old to attend, or so shunted about in seating under UConn's donation-rewarding point system that they got disgusted and stay home. TV has an impact as does the economy. The disparity between teams in women's game is striking when a UConn is on the court and that probably attributes to some lack of interest. That is ironic, because UConn women's hoop fans would probably be as uninterested in women's hoops as is the case in a huge number of colleges if Geno hadn't landed here and we had the sort of team that our women regularly steamroll.

Empty seats in all of the 3 revenue sports that located in sections that are pretty well sold out to season's ticket holders is hard to explain other than many are corporate owned and, except for "big" games, go begging. My football section always has too many empty but sold seats. A whole other topic is how dead the fans are in those "suit" sections. At this weeks men's game vs. UNH, I was trying to get people around me to make a little noise. Why attend if you are going to treat as sporting event as if you are in a movie theater, but if you paid lot for choice seats, I suppose you can be silent as a giraffe if you please. It should be clear that the attendance at the men's game was lousy.

Which leads me to another attendance issue: Students. Students now get the some of the worst seats and a lot of games are in Hartford. While attendance by many non-students has always been part of the UConn hoops scene, there seems to be less general interest by students in the very special women's program, and it ain't all that great except for big games in the men's program. For the men, it was not always that way. Even lesser opponents elicited more student interest.

I need to stop now that I've warmed my blood after freezing my fanny at the football game.

 

[UConnChapette]

I need to stop now that I've warmed my blood after freezing my fanny at the football game.

Glad your blood is warmed. Mine has not yet thawed out. I am still in my long underwear, jeans, sweatshirt, wool socks and fuzzy slippers and I am STILL cold. I am frozen to the core and it wasn't even THAT cold. At least the basketball games are inside.

 

[Waquoit]

The fact remains that college women's basketball (men's too for that matter) is past peak. 8K attendance at the prices being charged is still pretty impressive.

 

[Wonkster]

... I commented to a friend today that the attendance started to decline as soon as CPTV started broadcasting every game ...

Your claim is provably false.

CPTV began broadcasting Husky games in the Fall of 1994, and a season or two later they started broadcasting almost all games that were not co-opted by other, larger outlets. There were occasional exceptions, but they became rare, as when there were conflicts with availability of access to the away game venue.

Let's clarify something that gets muddled because of sloppy speech. Television clearly boosted attendance at UConn games - they rose in parallel, and likely caused many fans to begin to buy tickets for the games during the first few years of the CPTV era. So the problem is not television as such. It's not even HDTV.

HDTV sets have been available for over ten years now. They had smaller dimensions than the behemoths we have now, but more significantly they were fairly pricey, so not everybody jumped on the bandwagon right away. Over the years they have increased in size and also been priced much, much, lower than earlier for the same sized set.

That was the factor that caused the sea change. Live attendance had a viable, attractive, and affordable challenger for the first time.

I don't need surveys to tell me what happened. I saw that a number of my friends stopped going to the games. Whatever they claimed to be the reason, the fact is they were watching the games at home, and in every case they had large HDTV sets. In some cases they still went, but much less frequently.

There is absolutely nothing UConn can do about the phenomenon. I hope they realize it before they do something stupid.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Many fans have busy lives, personal and family responsibilities, physical, financial, and life challenges…he apparently does not understand this. Sad commentay for someone who serves those he critiques.

 

[msf22b]

With all the talk of being able to enjoy the game only in the downstairs seats, I sometimes head to the least occupied section in the top corners.
Saw the great Baylor game there a coupla years ago there.
Best place for taking in the complete scene and the crowd effect
I suppose I got raised in my Yankee Dodger, Ranger games when I was a kid; loved the $1.25 upper-deck unreserved at the Stadium.

 

[Phil]

There is absolutely nothing UConn can do about the phenomenon. I hope they realize it before they do something stupid.

There may be nothing that UConn can do to reverse the HDTV phenomenon, but that doesn't mean there is nothing they can do.

Attending in person has always had some negatives, but the viewing experience in person was sufficiently superior to the viewing option at home, that people were willing to pay the price.

The HDTV phenomenon reduces the difference in the viewing experience. The solution is to look to two other broad areas:

1. Reducing the other negatives - poor seat location, poor seats (benches), parking hassles
2. Improving the live experience in other areas - post-game activities, give-aways, and other innovative ways to encourage people to want to go to the game

 

[semper]

My entire family, the young and the middle aged, refuse to attend sporting events because of the hideously loud ambiance. Disclosure: we are all (or most of us) musicians, and we can't take the assault on our ears. Excruciating loud buzzers, horrible music, you name it. At Notre Dame they have now starting blasting music in the football stadium, and its so freaking loud that the players can't hear in the huddles. I will never go to any public event that harms my hearing, not if I can help it. Why should machines take over?

In New York and Brooklyn, the coffee shops now blast music so that people won't get out their lap tops and stay. The people who work in such places are now starting to have hearing loss and headaches that don't stop.

Whenever any of us walks into a store to a loud blast, we turn tail and leave. The last time I went to UConn game, I got a headache from the ceaseless loud speakers, and it's the same at a Notre Dame basketball game. So no way I'm going. I watch on my laptop, where I control the sound level.

I know this is an odd perspective, but I think many really sensitive people just can't take several hours of that kind of gratuitous noise. And, as I said, our kids in their 20ties feel the same way. We are surely a small minority, but thought it was worth raising.

 

[Wonkster]

There may be nothing that UConn can do to reverse the HDTV phenomenon, but that doesn't mean there is nothing they can do.

Attending in person has always had some negatives, but the viewing experience in person was sufficiently superior to the viewing option at home, that people were willing to pay the price.

The HDTV phenomenon reduces the difference in the viewing experience. The solution is to look to two other broad areas:

1. Reducing the other negatives - poor seat location, poor seats (benches), parking hassles
2. Improving the live experience in other areas - post-game activities, give-aways, and other innovative ways to encourage people to want to go to the game

Improve "post-game activities?" Are you kidding? Nearly everybody just wants to get the hell out before the traffic clogs their exit.

But there's always a free pre-game steak dinner, individual viewing booths, and a massage.

 

[Wonkster]

My entire family, the young and the middle aged, refuse to attend sporting events because of the hideously loud ambiance. Disclosure: we are all (or most of us) musicians, and we can't take the assault on our ears. Excruciating loud buzzers, horrible music, you name it. At Notre Dame they have now starting blasting music in the football stadium, and its so freaking loud that the players can't hear in the huddles. I will never go to any public event that harms my hearing, not if I can help it. Why should machines take over?

In New York and Brooklyn, the coffee shops now blast music so that people won't get out their lap tops and stay. The people who work in such places are now starting to have hearing loss and headaches that don't stop.

Whenever any of us walks into a store to a loud blast, we turn tail and leave. The last time I went to UConn game, I got a headache from the ceaseless loud speakers, and it's the same at a Notre Dame basketball game. So no way I'm going. I watch on my laptop, where I control the sound level.

I know this is an odd perspective, but I think many really sensitive people just can't take several hours of that kind of gratuitous noise. And, as I said, our kids in their 20ties feel the same way. We are surely a small minority, but thought it was worth raising.

I can disclose the fact that I'm NOT a musician, but I feel the same way. The overly loud sounds have got to go.

UNIVERSALLY.

A few days ago, I tracked down the manager of a local Barnes & Noble and asked him to turn down the volume levels of the ambient music. I told him it didn't matter to me what genre music they played, but I found the volume levels so high that it was totally distracting. He gave me some blather about company policy (VOTE HERE: HOW MANY PEOPLE WANT TO KILL IDIOTS WHO USE THAT EXCUSE ABOUT "COMPANY POLICY?"). I told him that it was my policy not to shop in stores with annoyingly loud music.

I've campaigned for Panera Bread to lower their volume levels, and I think I won!

 

[Joe6cats]

Anybody got a Terp ticket to sell? John's taunt kinda got me off my butt: long time fan, I have never gone to a game. I know I know, but anyway. So I decided to buy a ticket for this one. But is seems one cannot just buy one ticket. I don't personally know anyone interested in going, hence my question. If you have something, please PM me with the location and price. Thanks for your consideration.

 

[Wonkster]

Anybody got a Terp ticket to sell? John's taunt kinda got me off my butt: long time fan, I have never gone to a game. I know I know, but anyway. So I decided to buy a ticket for this one. But is seems one cannot just buy one ticket. I don't personally know anyone interested in going, hence my question. If you have something, please PM me with the location and price. Thanks for your consideration.

Joe, absent a response from this board, JUST GO TO THE GAME and walk up to the ticket window. I've done this many times and NEVER failed to get in.

Single seats are especially easy to find, because they are the hardest to sell.

 

[Bestiarius]

I keep telling people that the "fannies in the seats" argument is passé. Revenue in the future will be more and more slanted toward TV sources. You can reduce ticket prices to zero, and they still won't reach capacity seating. There's prolly only 7 or 8 thousand good seats, and the rest rate a poor second place to a large screen television.

How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm after They've Seen HDTV?

The future is 7 or 8,000 live fans, and the rest of the seats will be filled with blue-painted, cheering robots. I'll bet they won't be able to convince the robots to eat the food from the concession stands.

Why choose? Attending games is a different experience than watching on TV. Many of us can have the best of both worlds. Go to the game to get the ambiance of being there, and, DVR the game for later reliving of the experience. Two different perspectives, both of which are enjoyable.

 

[Wonkster]

Why choose? Attending games is a different experience than watching on TV. Many of us can have the best of both worlds. Go to the game to get the ambiance of being there, and, DVR the game for later reliving of the experience. Two different perspectives, both of which are enjoyable.

Been doing that since November 1998 when I got my first TiVo, a whopping 14 GB disk model.

 

[Bestiarius]

Been doing that since November 1998 when I got my first TiVo, a whopping 14 GB disk model.

You're a real digit-head Wonk.

 

[arch]

There is absolutely nothing UConn can do about the phenomenon. I hope they realize it before they do something stupid.

Too late. Reducing prices 25-33% has proven to qualify as "something stupid."

I am left to wondering if your theory is "provable false". Did CPTV ratings ascend with the coming of big screen affordable HDTVs? If so, did they stay up?

I do like your theory better than the "old folks are dying off" theory. After all, they're making more of us than they're killing off.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

I frequently DVR Boneyard stuff.

 

[Joe6cats]

Thanks Wonk! That is what I needed to hear, and unless somebody has something I can't walk away from, I'll do it.

 

[tomcat]

Which really is all the more remarkable when you consider that EVERY UConn game is televised or streamed online.

If you want to increase attendance, stop broadcasting every game. That is a double edged sword. While it allows those who do not live in CT or cannot make the games able to watch the team, it also makes it easier for people to decide they don't want to pay the parking and concession prices or deal with the traffic to sit at home and watch the game. I commented to a friend today that the attendance started to decline as soon as CPTV started broadcasting every game. A blessing and a curse.

I don't know for certain -- I'll defer to others who were actually there during this period, but how long ago did CPTV start broadcasting the games? I seem to recall it was a really long time ago. And I know that for years, as a nearby out of stater, I would try and try to get tickets to UConn games that were televised on CPTV and had a really hard time, as all the games were sold out. I thought this was the case even a few years ago.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that during the Golden Age of UConn basketball, CPTV was televising the games and for a number of years, the games were sellouts. And if I'm right, attendance did not start to drop when CPTV began televising the games. That does not mean that Chapette's solution -- stop televising the games -- would not work, because at least some of those folks would come to games more often if they could not see them on TV.

But TV is not the reason people are not going to the games. If it were, then Chapette's earlier statement would be true, and people would have stopped going to games when CPTV geared up, which I am all but certain did not happen. The reason is a convergence of things, IMHO, ranging from transition of the fan base (i.e. many just getting too old to sit in seats without backs); the fact that it's no longer a novelty; the economy; the fact that (from what I hear) it's getting harder and harder to get around Connecticut these days (especially from south of New Haven); and the fact that there are just a lot of other things, many of them computer-based, for people to do with their time.

 

[tomcat]

I'm now reading Wonkster's reply, which I'm pleased to report makes the point I just made, except more authoritatively. Sorry for the repetition. Should have read the posts all the way to the end before posting.